Soil testing was under constant supervision by testing agencies to ensure safety.

Project Overview

In June of 2011 Elzinga & Volkers was awarded the new Spectrum Health Medical Office Building in Holland, MI. This two-story 56,000-square-foot facility allowed the medical group to consolidate doctors and staff at five offices in the Holland area into a single location. Elzinga & Volkers was selected to become a part of this project team with Integrated Architecture as the architect of record.

This project is a new construction on a brown-field site. The classification of a brown-field site created unique opportunities and challenges on this project. During any excavation or site work, a third party testing agency had to be present to confirm soil classification. In addition to constant supervision, no material was allowed to be removed from the job site so distribution of any excess amount of soil on the site required special communication and coordination.

There are a number of sustainable features on the exterior and interior of this facility that set it apart from other medical office buildings and contribute to the goal of LEED certification for this facility. On the exterior of the building Elzinga & Volkers installed a solar heating system on the roof which will generate enough energy to supply the entire building with hot water. We also installed a live roof on the entrance canopy to create a healthy and fresh feel when looking at it from the second floor lobby.

The interior of the building has a unique feel as well. One of the special elements in this project is actually one that you will never see and that is because it is under your feet. The entire building has an access floor system and all of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing elements are run underneath the flooring instead of overhead. This gives the end user the ability to change layouts as their needs evolve. The facility houses over 80 exam rooms with medical services including audiology, diabetes and endocrinology, obstretrics and gynecology, pediatrics and sleep medicine just to name a few, so adaptability is critical.

Perhaps the most challenging component of this project was the timeline it was completed in. Only eight months passed from the first bucket of dirt being moved to handing the keys to the owner. During the interview process a number of competitors stated that this schedule could not be achieved or would require additional funds to make it happen. A typical schedule for a project of this size and detail would typically be 12 months, but Elzinga & Volkers was able to cut a quarter of that time off and worked within our stated schedule in order to get our client into their facility on time and within budget.

Elzinga & Volkers brings a high level of professionalism to all of their projects. The project team has proved that a high quality product can be provided in a short timeline by using proper communication and creative coordination. Through the persistence of those involved, Elzinga & Volkers was able to deliver a facility that the entire community of Holland can be proud of.